FALL INTO THE HOLIDAYS

GORDY GOURD PUMPKIN ORNAMENT

A bit of clay and a lot of magic went into creating Gordy. Warts and all, he's a loveable guy,

ready to hang out on your Halloween tree with the rest of the spooks. Find him here MothersDreamRtWorks

One of my favorite Santas to create, Victorian Dreams Santa did a bit of traveling, including a stint at the Utah State Fair, when I was demonstrating my sculpting skills for the Creative Arts Exhibit. I love his textured coat, and he certainly has a winsome smile. A Santa to melt the hearts of all who see him. He's also available here MothersDreamRtWorks

There's more to come in my etsy shop, as well as a possible piece or two on ebay. So lets FALL INTO THE HOLIDAYS TOGETHER!

Christmas In June at the PFATT Marketplace

The banner says it all. Come join us for a bit of Christmas magic this month.

Whoohoo! It's Time to Get Ready For Hallowbaloo!

 

Come one come all, 

We'll have a ball!

Enchanting creations 

To delight your imagination! 

 I received an exciting invitation to debut at Seattle's first Hallowbaloo show this September! Pinch me, I think I'm dreaming! Funny how retiring from working as an art teacher has given me the opportunity to say YES, to participate in a new show. I will be rubbing shoulders with some of the best Halloween folk artists, which is thrilling! More information to come as I gather my wits about me and get down to business.

My Three Entries for the Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts

Calabaza de Cuero

 It's nail biting time again. Funny, I always worry about being accepted, and haven't been turned away yet, so why the nail biting? I guess it's that old lack of self confidence creeping in. Keeps me humble right? Lol.

Sunset In Sonora

 This was an interesting challenge, but a lot of fun to do. I wanted to try and use my doilies in a tree painting, and it worked, although I had another style in mind prior. What's nice is I can still try my other idea. I've learned though that joint compound does not like cold basement floors. It was a bit hard to spread, and a lot more crazing happened than I like. The paint filled most of that in luckily, and the antiquing process brought out what was left, to my advantage.

The Red Hen

Pastels and chickens, who knew that would be my new fun challenge to try?! I have a couple of other challenges in that regard, and my temptation is to blow past the sketch step and get right to it, but I think I will try and sketch out my idea first to make sure I have my light and dark areas figured out. I can do that while Kent is doing his dulcimer practice so it works for both of us.
I'd better get to finishing getting ready for work. I am introducing Mary Cassatt to my students today. It will be interesting to see how they settle in after Spring Break.

Western Style Tooled Leather Look on Carved Gourd

 Got this done finally, and it turned out pretty nice if I do say so myself. Nature Guy and I were both sweating it, as two days ago this was not looking the way I had hoped. Proof that details matter.

I had to change a plan or two, for instance, the holes around the top band of the gourd weren't doing it for me. As I was rummaging through my jewelry making stash I found some eyelets that intrigued me so I tried placing a couple in the holes and they sure made a difference so that was a nice discovery slash inspiration. I had another plan for the base of the gourd, but acrylics weren't working the way I had hoped. it's all good though as the end result turned out great as well. You can't really see it well in this photo, so when we get back from our travels I will share more photos. All in all, my art pieces for the show are going better than I hoped, whew! Are you working on anything new?

Gourd Carving... getting ready for the WVFA

 Trying out a new technique and flying by the seat of my pants so to speak. I see a new book out on gourd carving, right after I already started this...lol. Oh well, I've always wanted to try a tooled leather look on gourds, but I have another piece in mind. This may be titled "Trial Run".

I am getting close to my deadline, so I'd better get this done. So far, so good. I have a few tweaks to do before I finish the painting, but I am nervously and feverishly working to finish this and another piece before my deadline. I know, why wait to the last minute right? Well, work, and family stuff and illness and a family death put me behind big time so as usual I'm scrambling. It will all work out. In the mean time I think I'm going to order the book I saw and see what I can learn.

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Who's got the Pumpkin?

My etsy shop has two as a matter of fact. Created on gourds, these fun guys, are ready to help you celebrate Halloween. See them at MothersDreamRtworks

It's a Wowee! A Lauge Gathewing of Folk Aut fo a Weason..... PFATT Marketplace

This is the only one of my three pieces posted on the marketplace that is still available. They flew off the page before I even had a chance to catch my breath!  You can see this fella here: http://www.pfattmarketplace.com/mothersdream.html

Oh, the title? Do you remember the children's story, An American Tail, where Madeline Khan is the voice of one of the mice?

Happy Jack! Halloween Gourd Folk Art

What's larger than a Hermiston watermelon and happy as can be? Jack, who is now is available now on etsy.

PFatt WIp's

It felt sooooo good to sculpt again! I have several deadlines to meet, one of which is the PFATT Marketplace update this week. After doing yard work for an hour, and helping Nature Guy scrape paint on the garage for 30 minutes I got cleaned up and set up my folding table in the back yard to work outside. It was a lovely day, not too hot, not too cool. So I have a little froggy started here, and a bunny almost ready to paint, whoohoo!

Spring Chicken?

A new gourd creation for Spring. Fun and funky, he's colorful and roly poly. For all you chicken lovers out there, see him on EBAY

Hungry Jack O' Lantern is done!

Hungry Jack O' Lantern is so ready to hang out with someone. He's an impressively large Jack, and fun to boot!
I haven't decided yet where to debut him. I will keep you posted. If you are interested, send me a note.

We 3 Santas of Alpenfest are bound....

 This weekend is Alpenfest here in Wallowa County, with all the fun that goes along, such as polka dancing, yodeling, Bavarian style foods and lots of vendors.

 Of course there must be Santas to round out the selection of goodies to be had, so I've been working like crazy to finish a few more pieces for the festivities.

 I've already talked to a few folks who haven't seen what I do yet, and they happen to collect Santa figures so I'm hoping they stop by.

These are just a few of the offerings I will have. Two gourd Santas and a tiny vanilla bottle Santa along with a handful of driftwood Santa pieces to be finished. I'm starting to catch a bug, but I'm fighting it, so let's hope I can beat it in order to enjoy all the fun. Hope to see you there!

Spooky Dude Hanging with Friends

 Spooky Dude is happily hanging out with his friends the Sweet Mamma twins. He is tickled to be out and about and looks forward to Alpenfest in Joseph, Oregon next weekend.

 Spooky Dude is trying to find more of his friends in the squash patch.... I know there are more!

Oh, he caught me with my camera. Such a poser isn't he? At two feet tall, he is pretty impressive I must say. I will keep you updated on how he fares at Alpenfest. I have a companion to him that I'm working on, and maybe more. We may have a gourd Spooky Dude and friends invasion in NE Oregon next weekend. Bwaaaahaaaahaaaaaa!

Santa is lighting the way to Christmas....

Shhhhhhh..... don't tell anyone that there's 126 days until Christmas and Santa is already gearing up to visit your home. Have you been naughty or nice? There's still time to shape up! If you would like this gourd Santa to stop by your home invite him here.. Lighting the Way Santa

Happy Monday! Okay, it is for me at least.....

 Oh the joy of listing an item on ebay and having it sell right away! Printed on very high quality heavy duty gloss finish paper, with very high quality ink, this is the last of the series I had printed from the original painting I did. I only have one of the prints left of the above painting so head on over fast to snag this! Prim Pumpkin Pear Print

 A sweet and woodsy gourd Santa, hand sculpted and painted with layers of paints, this little fella is also available here: Northwoods Dreaming Santa
So I'm having a good Monday, mailed off a few pieces that sold last week and today, and this little guy will go to some lucky home so we are starting off the week right. How's your week going?

Hagatha Witchley

 August has arrived with an outlook for back to school and fun holiday times just around the corner. Soooo, I pulled out my gourd collection, which is growing by leaps and bounds, and found this lovely lady just waiting to be brought to life. A gourdeous pumpkin witch isn't she?

Hagatha has made her debut on ebay this week, so scurry on over and learn more about her and how you might be able to have her keep you company this Halloween. You can find her here:  Hagatha Witchley

Chief Joseph Days here we come!

It's almost rodeo time again, and one of my best childhood friends and I are taking the challenge to have a booth at Chief Joseph Days  . If you have a moment, take some time to check out the goings on for Chief Joseph Days. It's the biggest event around and draws folks from all over the world to come see the wild bucking horse stampede, the PRCA rodeo events, and dance the night away. The Nez Perce set up teepees outside the rodeo grounds and have dance demonstrations among other things, along with everyone who can find a reason participating in the kiddie and grand parades. It's with a bit of trepidation that we do this, especially for me as I've not tried an outdoor venue like this before. Luckily for me, Teri is a pro at this sort of thing.
Teri is the owner of Calamityville Mercantile, a fun and very cool vintage cowgirl "chic" sort of shop with western treasures galore! She also creates hand woven saddle cinchas, and does beautiful work. Her hubby is a saddle maker among other things and they live out in the farm/desert country of southern Idaho in an idyllic location surrounded by fields of green and fresh produce everywhere to be had. Click on her link and see what's going on out in her shop.
So I'm going to get my cowgirl on, and get to  making some fun jewelry, and home decor, including gourd country critters, and some art pieces (hopefully)....lol.

Virtue.... a finished WIP

I'm still in my jammies as I have been working on this and getting the photos and entry done, whew! I can go on vacation with peace of mind now. At 32 inches tall, she is the tallest/largest sculpt I've done to date. She is made from a total of 5 gourds, one for the body and two for each of the arms. No baby though. I had to remove the baby as it was looking more like a cocoon from outer space than a child, even a folk art one...lol. This is a bit different than I had planned for her dress as well, but sometimes things change as we go along. Now, to wait and see if I've been accepted.

Here's a closer look at her base. I tried to achieve a turquoise stone look to the panels on her dress. I hope that will show up in person. Photos are hard to take here.

Another one of my entries for the Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts. A mixed media abstract.

I know I've shared this before as well, but here's "Who's Chicken?" again. Now the waiting begins. Will I be accepted? I hope so as I'm supposed to demo my sculpting and I usually volunteer to help. I do enjoy this show, but will be looking for others to enter as well. They are great experiences and you can get good feedback on where you need to improve. If you haven't entered a juried show before I urge you to give it a try. You never know!

Large Gourd WIP continues She has hair!

 I finally got to the first layer of her hair yesterday and then had her baking in the warm car for most of the day. I added more bulk to her hair and have now stuck her head in the oven to dry. That can be a tricky thing, as she is very large, but it's working.

I'm still thinking she needs a tad more height to her hair to give her a balanced look. What do you think? I need to finish the sculpting and get her drying today as I have two days to sand and paint her. What do you think so far?